The Leipzig-based vocal sextet Sjaella returns to UKARIA with a program exploring the age-old human dilemma between the head and the heart, including music by Eleonora d’Este, Nicolas Gombert, Hildegard von Bingen, Heinrich Schütz, Henry Purcell, Paola Prestini, David Lang, Laura Marconi, and a new work by Australian composer Alice Chance. This selection of early and contemporary music illustrates the tension between intellect and emotion: a plea for the truthfulness of thinking and feeling.

These six female voices, perfectly blended, ‘radiated a special kind of warmth… and held the audience spellbound’ (The Advertiser). They began singing together as children and have been performing as Sjaella – named after a Scandinavian word meaning ‘soul’ – since 2005. Their appearances in renowned music festivals and international concert tours are testament to their reputation as one of the most outstanding and captivating a cappella ensembles of our time.

Sjaella feeds the hearts and stimulates the minds of their listeners, as they ask: ‘How can we listen to both inner poles of reason and emotion, and learn to trust them?’